V.I.R.A.L - Chapter 288

“I need to confirm something, and we need to find Zinnia. I don’t know what you’ve been through, Riley, but I’m going to tear down that wall of lies and bring back the real you. We need you as much as you need Team Rhapsody!”

“Shut up, shut up, shut up!” She screamed, tearing the roof off the tavern. “Friends, teammates, heroes. All of it is just a load of bullshit! I’ll show you as I tear those false ideals apart and reveal the truth in this all. You can’t rely on anything now. Shut up and die!”

Jinx flung her arm up, ready to fire off serval shots only for Riley to launch her back into the snow in a matter of seconds. Emil ran forward before collapsing into the snow. Riley stepped back, looking all around her waiting for Emil’s eventual return. Putting up a psychic barrier would help Riley sense any movement when it was made. A snap as the movement was made behind her. Spinning around, Riley pinned what she thought was Emil to the wall only to discover it was his coat. Taken back by this, Emil flew out from the ground once Riley took the bait. Punching her in the face, she stumbled back, swinging her arm back around, letting off serval explosions. Squatting down, Emil tackled Riley to the ground, trying to pin her. “Riley stops this; we don’t need to fight. If we hope to stand any chance against the Garden, we need to work together.”

Riley blasted Emil back, holding him in the air as she pulled herself up, ranting. “After all these years, you want to work together?! I’ve been fighting readying for the Garden my whole life! It was at a time all I was born to do. You’re only fighting back because it’s affecting you. You’re nothing but a hypocrite!”

Slamming Emil into the ground, she pushed him backsliding through the snow. Holding her hand out, she stopped a handful of bullets from Jinx as she was thrown across the town again, knocking into Emil. “We’re getting our ass beaten by her again! Face its Emil; we don’t stand much chance against Riley.”

“You don’t think I know that? This is just going to be a repeat of that night at this rate…. Damn it, why am I so weak?!”

Jinx pushed Emil off her as she pulled out a machine gun, firing endlessly at Riley. Walking forward, Riley deflected all the bullets as each one plummeted into the snow. Holding one, she flicked it back, shooting Jinx in the leg, making her fall over in pain. Picking up Emil, she kept him tightly, strangling him. “How can you hope to defeat the Garden if you cannot even defeat me, Montague. How you were ever on Team Rhapsody is beyond me. Not only were you a Montague reject, but you were a failure of a streamer.”

Emil lowered his head, deflated as he whispered to himself. “A failure? A reject?”

*****

Falling to the floor, Emil held his bloody nose slightly taken back. Alton sighed, shaking his hand. “Perhaps we should call it there for today?”

Rubbing the blood on his sleeve, Emil stood up, shaking his head. “No, no! I can keep going.”

Looking slightly annoyed, Alton began tapping his foot. “Clearly, you cannot Emil, we can pick this up another day. Why are you so fixated on beating me?”

“I’m weak,” Emil muttered, catching Alton off guard. “I always act cocky, calling others noobs and such, yet when it comes down to it, I’m always losing every fight I take part in. I lost to you guys way back when. I stood no chance against Vanguard or the Cult. Monty swept the floor of me during the V.I.R.A.L League, and I couldn’t feel anything but helpless during the Fizzle Tooth situation. Everyone has overtaken me. You, Gale, Percy and Scarlett were already well ahead of me before then. Alice is on a whole different level, and then Zinnia got a massive boost. With her gone, I’m the one picking up the scraps. I want. No need for you guys to rely on me too.”

Alton rubbed the back of his neck backed into a corner, unsure what to do. “Sometimes, there really is nothing you can do about that.” Those words hit Emil hard as he came to the same realisation everyone else had about him. “Look at what we were fighting when we first formed Team Rhapsody. Mere crooks and low life streamers using others to fight for them. It wasn’t so bad back then, but now we’re fighting pawns of the Garden, the Syndicate Family, and other just ridiculous foes. I’m struggling to keep up, so I couldn’t even imagine how you feel.”

“If that’s how you feel, why have you kept me around for so long? You have Alice and Scarlett, who can carry their weights and take on any foe. I’m just holding the team back.”

“If that’s the case and we only pulled in people who make us strong, I would have dropped Zinnia years ago. It’s not about power or who’s got the most takedowns. We’re a team, Emil; We cover each other’s weaknesses. Even if you have more than others, use that to your advantage. Your enemy will know your weak use that to win.”

Emil gave it some thought, unsure. “I don’t know if that will help me. You have so many different powers and moves. All I can do is turn items 2D; that’s not very helpful.”

Alton sat on a bench overlooking the park they were training at; it was the same park they took down their first target, Pokiero. “You know, having one gimmick isn’t a bad thing. If it works, it can work. However, if you keep using it the same way, it becomes predictable. When we fought Pokiero here on that fateful night, she knew how to use her powers. She backed us all into a corner almost instantly. But she became sloppy, and I was able to work out her power fairly quickly. If you keep using your power the same way, then you’ll just become just like her. It’s not about how many powers or how strong they are. It’s out thinking and catching your foe off guard. That’s how you should fight Emil.”

Emil nodded, feeling better about himself. “I think I have an idea of how I should fight.”

“That’s a start,” Alton smirked before stopping to look ahead. “Say what the largest item you can turn into 2D?” Neither spoke up as Alton stood up with a bold look. “Let’s try something.”

“I don’t like that look. Just what have you got planned, Alton….”

“Everyone needs an ultimate attack, right? I think it’s about time you get yours.”

*****

Snow poured onto Emil’s face as he was left out of options. Riley had predicted his every move and was always two steps ahead. Just as he planned. Just able to move his hand, Emil reached for his pocket, looking to surprise attack. Seeing this, Riley snatched it from him, throwing him to the ground. Staring at an origami of a tree, she smirked. “Were you planning on throwing this at me? So predicable Emil.”

“You’re right. I am predictable.” Emil snickered, staring at Riley with a smug look. “And that’s exactly what I wanted you to believe.”

Taken back, Riley went to silence him, only for the origami tree to return to its normal state crushing Riley smashing her to the ground. Throwing the tree away, she stood up, meeting Emil’s laugh. “I’ll admit you caught me off guard there…. What the?!” Riley looked around, dazed, to find the entire town gone in an instant. The only thing standing between her and Emil was the storm. “What the hell is this?!”

Emil was struggling to keep himself together, bleeding from the nose as he became pale, shaking. “It’s not about how many powers or how strong they are. It’s out thinking and catching your foe off guard. I had your attention on me the entire time with my predictable moves. You always thought you had the upper hand, so you never took the time to realise you were walking into my trap this entire time. This is how I fight!” Riley looked down, seeing the whole town was implanted into the ground like a 2D drawing. Her eyes widened, unaware Emil could even go this far. “I may be weak, and that’s alright; I’ll accept that because I’ll make that weakness my strength and overcome any foe.” Bringing his hands together, Emil slammed them to the floor, activating the final attack. “Take this! Dimension break!”

The buildings, one by one, snapped back to their 3D perspective as Emil released his hold on them. The tavern Riley stood overshot out, tagging on a might force breaking her focus and sending her flying into the air with extreme power. Gagging, she rammed back into the ground, coughing. Holding her chest, she slowly pulled herself up, bleeding from the mouth. “You bastard!”

Throwing two more origamis at Riley, both were tossed behind her. As they formed back to their original state, a giant spring blasted Riley forward, stunning her. Holding his arm ahead, Emil tackled her knocking Riley to the floor where another origami was waiting. Forming back to become a trampoline, Riley was thrown into the air. With his last attack in hand, Emil tossed it as the origami turned into a bus catapulting Riley back out of town with a large explosion. Panting, Emil fell to his knees out of juice. “No longer the noob now, huh?”

Emil turned his head panting only to stop speechless as Zinnia stood at the entrance to Haven with Henry by her side. Both stared at each other dazed as Zinnia was the first to speak out. “Emil…. Is that you?”

“Zinnia.” He whispered to himself, feeling tears forming as he smiled, overwhelmed with relief. “I found you.”